The Thread That Keeps Us

Recorded partly in a home turned studio in Northern California that the band called the Phantom Ship.
Calexico, 2018

Released: 26 January 2018
Studio: Wavelab Studio, Tucson, and Panoramic House, West Marin, California
Label: Anti- (US), City Slang (Europe)
Producer: Craig Schumacher, Joey Burns and John Convertino

The Thread That Keeps Us was recorded at Wavelab in Tucson and at Panoramic House in West Marin, California, a home turned studio the band called the Phantom Ship, with extra recording at Casa Convertino and the band's Tucson space, at Martin Wenk's family beach house in Northern Germany and at Tom Hagerman's home studio in Denver. It was mixed at Panoramic House and Wavelab and mastered at Golden Mastering. The rugged coastline shaped the record, and Burns said there was a little more chaos and noise in the mix than before.

In its first week in the US it reached number 2 on Billboard's Alternative Albums retail chart and number 5 on the Americana/Folk chart. It also charted at 7 in Germany, 13 in Belgium, 21 in the Netherlands, 47 in France, 58 in the United Kingdom and 60 in Italy. Pitchfork described its impassioned stories about border politics and environmental disasters as comfort food that stays vital in spite of its familiarity. The deluxe double LP adds seven bonus songs.

Track listing

End of the World with You
Voices in the Field
Bridge to Nowhere
Spinball
Under the Wheels
The Town & Miss Lorraine
Flores y Tamales
Another Space
Unconditional Waltz
Girl in the Forest
Eyes Wide Awake
Dead in the Water
Shortboard
Thrown to the Wild
Music Box

Personnel

Joey Burns guitar, vocals, keyboards, percussion; producer
John Convertino drums, percussion; producer
Craig Schumacher producer, mixing
Jacob Valenzuela trumpet, backing vocals, vibraphone, percussion
Martin Wenk trumpet, guitar, synth, vibraphone, backing vocals
Scott Colberg upright and electric bass
Sergio Mendoza keyboards, guitar, bass, synth
Jairo Zavala guitar, vocals, vibraphone, percussion
Tom Hagerman violin
Evan Shelton cello
Connor Gallaher pedal steel
Chris Schultz percussion, synth, drum machine; recording engineer

More from Calexico

Spoke (1996), The Black Light (1998), Hot Rail (2000), Feast of Wire (2003), Convict Pool (2004), In the Reins (2005), Garden Ruin (2006), Carried to Dust (2008), Algiers (2012), Edge of the Sun (2015), Years to Burn (2019), Seasonal Shift (2020), El Mirador (2022)

Sources

The Thread That Keeps Us, Wikipedia
Calexico: The Thread That Keeps Us (deluxe LP), Discogs
Calexico: The Thread That Keeps Us (master), Discogs
Calexico (band), Wikipedia